Carriage-wrench



(No Model.)

W. D. HOWE. CARRIAGE WRENCH.

No; 601,323. Patented Mar. 29, 1898.

I WITNESSES NrrEn STATES Prion.

CARRIAG E-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601 ,323, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed september 24, 1897- $erial No. 652,837. (No model.) A

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM DUNLAP HOWE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moorefield, in the county of Nicholas and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carriage- Wrenches; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and 'to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certainimprovements in carriage-wrenches such as are used for removing the nuts from carriage-axles and the like; and the object of the invention is to provide a device of this character of a simple, inexpensive, and compact form which shall be strong and durable and adapted for holding the nut when removed from the axle in convenient position to prevent the nut from being laid down while the axle is being greased and thereby to prevent the nut and tool from being mislaid or lost and the nut from 001- lecting dust and grit, which would cause undue wear of the parts.

The invention consists in certain novel features of the construction, combination, and arrangement of the various parts of the improved carriage-wrench whereby. certain important advantages are attained and the de vice is made simpler and cheaper and is otherwise better adapted and more convenient for use, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully defined in the claims.

In order that my improvements may be the better understood, I have shown in the accompanying drawings a carriage-wrench constructed according to my invention, in which drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional View taken through a carriage-wheel, showing a wrench constructed according to my invention secured to one of the spokes. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the improved wrench.

Fig. 3 is a face view of the same.

In the views, 1 indicates the hub of a carriage-wheel and 2 indicates the spokes thereof.

3 indicates the nut employed for holding the wheel upon the axle, said nut beingusually arranged to engage a threaded shank upon the axle and being, as shown in Fig. 1, held by the wrench, which in turn is secured or gripped to one of the spokes 2, as will be hereinafter explained; Thus it is permitted when it is desired to remove the nut 3 for any purpose-as for greasing the bearing, for exampleto attach the nut by means of the wrench by which it is removed to the wheel, so as to prevent the nut from being mislaid orlost or from collecting dust and-grit, and

thereby to prevent injury to the bearing when the nut is replaced upon the axle.

t indicates the body of the wrench, formed of flat metal, one end 5 of which is turned or bent up and is provided with a socket 6 to fit 7o over the nut 3 in a well-known way, so as to enable the wrench to be employed for unscrewing the nut. As shown herein, the socket is made square and open at its base; but it is evident it may, if desired, be made hexagonal or of other form and may be closed at its base without departing from the spirit of the invention. Where the nut 3 has a flange, as shown herein, an open-bottomed socket will serve, since the flange will prevent the nut from passing through the socket. The opposite end 7 of the wrench-bodyt may be made of any form desired; but, as shown herein,fsaid end is made widened and provided with a series of sockets or jaws 8 to engage nuts of different sizes, so as to permit, of using the wrench for removing nuts other than those of the axle, as will be readily understood.

In order to attach and hold the wrench to the spokes 2 after the nut 3 has been removed from the axle and while said nut is still held in the socket 6 of the wrench, I provide a clamp which comprises as one of its members the body 4 of the wrench and as its other member a spring-actuated gripping finger or 5 jaw 9, bent or curved to conform to the curved side of the spoke 2 and having an integral rounded shank 10 extending from oneend at right angles to the bodyand passing through a slotted aperture or perforation 11, formed 10o readily understood from the drawings, the finger or jaw 9 is formed by flattening the end of the rounded shank 10, so as to give said finger or jaw a wider and better gripping-surface for engagement with the spoke. The other end of the shank is flattened and formed into an integral spring 12, integral therewith but extending at an angle to said wrench-body is of less width than would be shank and to the body 4 of the wrench, so that the spring is held normally projecting from the face of the body 4 of the wrench, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the end of the spring 12, adjacent to the shank 10, forms a convenient thumb-piece to be pressed by the operator to permit the gripping finger or jaw 9 to be moved in applying the wrench to or detaching it from thespoke 2. The spring 12 is held at its end to the body4 of. the wrench by means of a screw 13 or the like.

The extremity of the finger orj aw 9 is spaced away from the body 4 of the wrench, so as to permit thetool to be readily applied to the spoke when the thumb is pressed upon the thumb-piecerformed by the spring 12, and in order that the jaw or finger 9 may act to hold the tool securely in place upon the wheelspoke thedistance between the flat grippingsurface of the said jaw and the corresponding surface-of the wrench-body is made greater than the distance between the extremity of the finger or jaw and the said body, so as to form a socket to receive, the spoke. By fiattening the ends of the shank 10 to produce the finger 9 and the spring 12 it will be seen that a material advantage is attained, since the thickness of the shank is less than the width of its flattened end portions, and consequently the slotted aperture 11 in the the case were the shank of equal width with its end portions. In this way the strength of the wrench-body is maintained at-said. aperture 11,.and in order to insert the shank it is only necessary to pass one of its flattened end portions through the aperture 11, after which said shank is turned a quarter-way round, so that the spring 12 lies parallel with the body 4 and may be secured by means of the screw. 13.

In operation, after the nut has been une plied and gripped upon one of the spokes, as

shownin Fig. 1, the thumb-piece being pressed upon by the operator so as to move the finger or jaw 9 away from the body 4 of the wrench and permitithe device to be applied without liability of scratching or marrin g the spoke 2. The tension of spring12 will serve to hold the wrench in place upon thespoke, and. when it is desired to replace the nut upon the axle the finger or jaw 9 will be again moved by pres-- sureupon the thumb-piece.

The body 4 of the wrench is made with a curvedsnrface 14, as shown in Fig. 2, to engage therounded side surface ofthespoke opposite to the jaw or finger 9 and thereby increase the frictional engagement between said body and the spoke, so as to securely hold the wrench against movement when it has been gripped upon the spoke. In this way the wrench is prevented from scratching or marring the spoke by slipping or torsional movement thereon and is always held in proper position forv removal when it is de sired to replace the nut 3 upon the axle. In this way it will be seen that by using my improved wrench the liability of loss of the nut .is obviated and also the danger of dust and grit collecting on the nut to wear the bearings, as is the case where the nut is laid upon the floor or bench when removed, is avoided Furthermore, thedevice'is of a very simple, compact, and durable construction, and it will be seen that it is capable of somemodification without material departure from the principles and spirit of the invention, and for this reason I do not wish to limit myself to the precise form and arrangement of the partsherein set forth.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim 1. A carriage-wrench comprisinga perforated body having a socket to receive and hold a nut, a curved'jaw or finger carried on the body and arranged to grip, between it and the body, one of the wheel-spokes, a spring arranged to hold said jaw orfinger in position to grip the wheel-spoke, and athumbpiece arranged, when pressed, to flex the spring and move the jaw or finger out of gripping position, the extremity of said jaw orfinger being spaced away from the wrenchbody to permit the tool to be readily applied to the wheel-spoke,when the jaw ismoved out of gripping position and the gripping-surface of the jaw or finger being separated from the wrench-body a distance greaterthan the space between the extremity of the jaw and the said body to form a socket to receive the wheelspoke, substantially as set forth.

2. A carriage-wrench comprising a perfo rated body having a socket to receive and hold a nut and provided on one face with a curved surface to fit against the convex side of a spoke, a curved jaw or finger arranged to grip, between it and the curved surface of the body, one of the wheel-spokes, to hold the wrench to the wheel, a shank integral, with the. jaw orfinger and playing through the perforation in the body, and a spring secured to the body and integral with the shank,to actuate the jaw or finger, said spring being bent away from the body to form a thumbpiece to be-pressed by the operator toflex the spring and move the jaw or finger out of gripping position, the extremity of said jaw or finger being spaced away from the-wrenchbody to permit the toolto be readily applied to the spoke when the jaw or finger is moved out of gripping position,and the gripping-surface of the jaw or finger being separated from the wrench-body a distance greater than; the space between the extremity of said jaw and the body to form a socket to receive the Wheelspoke, substantially as set forth.

3. A carriage-wrench comprising a body having a socket to receive and hold a nut and provided with a slotted aperture, a rounded shank fitting and arranged to play in said aperture and having at one end a jaw or finger of greater width than the thickness of the shank and adapted to grip, between it and the wrench-body, one of the wheelspokes, the other end of the shank forming a spring also of greater width than the thickness of the shank, said spring being secured at one end to the body and having its other end bent away from the same to form a thumb-piece by means of which the spring may be flexed 

